We request partial support for the 4th National Meeting of the American Society for Matrix Biology (ASMB), to be held at the Manchester Hyatt, San Diego, CA on December 7-10, 2008. The 4th ASMB meeting builds on the success of the previous meeting, which drew over 400 participants from diverse fields, in academia and industry, spent 4 days of intense discussion and exchange of ideas on the broad topic of matrix biology. We intend to expand on that success. To this end we have assembled a plenary program comprised of distinguished scientists from diverse areas that impinge directly or indirectly on extracellular matrix (ECM) biology. The meeting will open with a Keynote Address by Dr. Carlo Croce, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, who will talk on micro-RNA. The following 3 days will consist of 5 Plenary Sessions and 5 blocks of 3 Concurrent Sessions, focused on topics such as ECM and Stem Cell Niches, Developmental Biology, Proteolysis, Inflammation, Genetic Diseases, Mechanical Influces, Development, and much more. Sessions will include speakers from diverse fields to promote cross-fertilization of ideas. The ASMB is a unique convocation of the varied, specialized disciplines that have developed out of matrix biology. Unlike large society meetings, the ASMB meeting has a dominant theme, and unlike symposia it strives to encompass all permutations on this theme, including emerging issues, not- ready-for-prime-time topics, and exciting new areas of research. In particular this meeting will emphasize state of the art technologies that can answer questions pertinent to ECM biology and pathology that could not be tackled with existing methodologies. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The ASMB meeting provides an exclusive opportunity for interested scientists to meet in a concentrated forum. This is true not only for established investigators but also for young scientists and students, including minorities, on whose participation we place great emphasis.